Fascines

ABSTRACT

Inflatable members for forming fascines for filling ditches or smoothing other discontinuities in or on the ground to facilitate the passage of vehicles across the discontinuity are normally carried uninflated in a package at one side of a vehicle such as a tank. The package can be moved from that stowed position to an operational position at the front of the vehicle, for example by swinging around a pivot located at the front corner of the vehicle, from which position the fascine members can be released and inflated. In this way there is no need for the vehicle to turn side on to the discontinuity in order to deploy the fascine.

The present invention relates to fascines and more particularly to means for the deployment of fascines.

Fascines are structures comprising at least one, and usually several, elongate members which are used to fill ditches or to level or smooth other discontinuities in or on the ground sufficiently to facilitate the passage of personnel or vehicles across the discontinuity, and sets of such members are commonly carried by tanks and other military vehicles when in the field for the temporary levelling of such discontinuities which would otherwise halt or impede the passage of the vehicles and/or of others which follow. Fascines comprising bundles of high density polyethylene or similar pipes are known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,312,601 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,566,821 and fascines including inflatable members are known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,122,400, U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,401, U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,662, GB2401640 and WO2006/027559. Inflatable fascine members have the advantage over rigid pipes of reduced weight and of much reduced bulk whilst uninflated; they can be stored and carried uninflated and need be inflated only when required for use, e.g. by a suitable compressor or from cylinders of compressed air or other gas (such as an inert mixture of carbon dioxide and nitrogen) carried for the purpose.

In one aspect the present invention resides in a vehicle equipped with means for the deployment of fascine members comprising a container for such members having a stowed position at one side of the vehicle and an operational position at the front of the vehicle in which such members can be released from said container, and means bearing said container whereby it can be moved from its said stowed position to its said operational position.

In one embodiment the container is borne by a pivot located in the region of an adjacent front corner of the vehicle about which the container can be swung from its said stowed to its said operational position.

In another embodiment the container is slidable on the vehicle from its said stowed position to a position forward of its said operational position and a pivot is provided about which the container can be swung from said forward position to its said operational position.

More particularly the container may be carried by an arm which lies generally parallel to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle when in said stowed position and generally parallel to the widthwise direction of the vehicle when in said operational position.

In another aspect the invention resides in means for the deployment of fascine members comprising a container for such members and means for bearing said container adapted to be fitted to a vehicle whereby the container can be stowed and moved as defined above.

These and other features of the present invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a vehicle equipped with a first means of deployment of inflatable fascine members in accordance with the invention, in a stowed position;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the vehicle of FIG. 1 with the deployment means in a stowed and an operative position;

FIG. 3 is a side view of a vehicle equipped with a second means of deployment of inflatable fascine members in accordance with the invention, in a stowed position and during a first phase of movement to an operational position; and

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the vehicle of FIG. 3, with the deployment means in the positions of FIG. 3 and in an operational position.

FIG. 1 shows a military vehicle exemplified as a tank 1 carrying a package 2 containing a plurality of uninflated inflatable fascine members (contents not shown) each folded and stowed to occupy minimum volume. The package 2 is normally carried in a stowed position along one side of the vehicle as shown, below the arc of its turret 3. The package is of generally cuboid form with a minimum dimension parallel to the widthwise direction and a maximum dimension parallel to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle as normally carried. It is carried by an arm 4 on a pivot 5 positioned at the end of a bracket 6 in the region of the adjacent front corner of the vehicle hull, and is normally secured and supported in the stowed position by a latch (not separately shown) on the side of the vehicle engaging the opposite (tail) end of the package. As shown in the plan view of FIG. 2, a similar arrangement of fascine package 7, arm 8, pivot 9 and bracket 10 may be provided in mirror image on the opposite side of the vehicle.

Let it be assumed that the vehicle 1 encounters a ditch or other such discontinuity that requires the deployment of a fascine in order to permit the vehicle to progress. The vehicle stops with its front end over the position at which the (or some of the) fascine members in package 2 are to be deployed, the aforesaid latch is released and the package is swung about the pivot 5 as indicated by the dotted arc in FIG. 2 (i.e. through substantially 270°) until it is positioned as indicated at 2′. This movement could be performed manually but is preferably motorised and controlled from the interior of the vehicle. For this purpose an electric motor (not separately shown) powered from the vehicle may be mounted on the bracket 6 coaxially with the pivot 5, or inboard from the pivot with a chain drive to the pivot.

In the operational position 2′ the package of fascine members lies along the front of the vehicle and approximately centrally thereof. From this position the required number of fascine members are released from the package to drop into the ditch or the like and are inflated in situ, all under manual or remote control. For this purpose the package 2 may be equipped with a releasable door along its lower edge and/or the fascine members may be supported within the package in groups by straps equipped with a so-called “three ring circus” as conventionally used in parachuting, or similar release device.

It will be appreciated that fascine members from the package 7 can be similarly deployed if required, after returning the package 2 to its stowed position, or the positions of the pivots 5 and 9 could be staggered so that both packages 2 and 7 can be swung round to the front of the vehicle at the same time, to lie one behind the other, if desired.

The above-described means of deployment of the fascine members are of advantage in that the package(s) 2 (and 7) are normally carried at the side of the vehicle where they are less vulnerable to damage or attack in service than if carried permanently at the front, but this does not require that the vehicle is placed side on to the discontinuity when the fascine members are to be deployed. It is of advantage both for the speed of the deployment and for other operational reasons that the vehicle itself does not have to be repositioned but can remain forward facing throughout.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate an alternative means for the deployment of inflatable fascine members from a vehicle exemplified as a tank 20 with turret 21. In this case there are fascine member packages 22 and 23 of similar form to, and normally carried in similar stowed positions to, the packages 2 and 7 of the first-described embodiment. In this case, however, each package 22 and 23 is carried on a respective arm 24, 25 having a respective pivot 26, 27 and which is in turn slidable on a respective runner 28, 29 fixed to the respective side of the vehicle hull. The deployment operation will be described for the package 22, the operation for package 23 being in mirror image.

As before, the vehicle stops with its front end over the position at which the (or some of the) fascine members are to be deployed. The package 22 is firstly slid forward on the runner 28 to the position indicated at 22′. By virtue of this movement the pivot 26 will also have been repositioned to the region of the front corner of the vehicle hull as indicated at 26′. From this position the package is swung about the pivot as indicated by the dotted arc in FIG. 4 (i.e. through substantially 90°) to the operational position indicated at 22″ in which it lies along the front of the vehicle and approximately centrally thereof. From this position the required number of fascine members can be released from the package and inflated as in the case of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2.

The embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4 has the same operational advantages as described above with respect to the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2. It has the additional advantage, however, of only requiring 90° of pivoting movement and in particular does not require the free space to the side of the vehicle as is required to accommodate the 270° arc shown in FIG. 2, albeit at the cost of a more complex deployment mechanism.

Although described above in terms of the deployment of inflatable fascine members, similar mechanisms to those illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4 with stowage at the side of a vehicle and deployment from the front of the vehicle may also be provided in connection with the deployment of non-inflatable fascine members, such as those constituted by plastic pipes. In this case the packages such as 2, 7, 22 and 23 will be longer and thicker than as illustrated in order to accommodate the greater volume of fascine members.

If desired the side faces of the packages such as 2, 7, 22 and 23 could also be armoured to provide additional protection to the front of the vehicle 1 or 20 when the respective package is placed into its operational position. 

1. A vehicle equipped with a deployment mechanism for fascine members comprising; a container for such members having a stowed position at one side of the vehicle and an operational position at the front of the vehicle in which such members can be released from said containers; and a bearing structure for said container whereby said container can be moved from its said stowed position to its said operational position.
 2. A vehicle according to claim 1 wherein said container is borne by a pivot located in the region of an adjacent front corner of the vehicle about which the container can be swung from its said stowed to its said operational position.
 3. A vehicle according to claim 1 wherein said container is slidable on the vehicle from its said stowed position to a position forward of its said operational position and a pivot is provided about which the container can be swung from said forward position to its said operational position.
 4. A vehicle according to claim 1 wherein said container is carried by an arm which lies generally parallel to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle when in said stowed position and generally parallel to the widthwise direction of the vehicle when in said operational position.
 5. A vehicle according to claim 1 wherein the volume of said container has a minimum dimension generally parallel to the widthwise direction and a maximum dimension generally parallel to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle when in said stowed position.
 6. A vehicle according to claim 1 comprising a plurality of fascine members packed in said container.
 7. A vehicle according to of claim 6 wherein said fascine members are inflatable and are held in said container in an uninflated condition.
 8. A deployment mechanism for fascine members comprising a container for such members and a bearing structure for said container adapted to be fitted to a vehicle whereby the container can be stowed at one side of the vehicle and moved from its said stowed position to an operational position at the front of the vehicle in which such members can be released from said container.
 9. A mechanism according to claim 9 comprising a pivot for said container adapted to be located in the region of a front corner of the vehicle so that the container can be swung about said pivot from its said stowed position to its said operational position.
 10. A mechanism according to claim 9 comprising a runner for said container adapted to be located on the side of the vehicle so that the container can be slid from its said stowed position to a position forward of its said operational position, and a pivot for said container about which the container can be swung from said forward position to its said operational position.
 11. A mechanism according to claim 9 comprising an arm for carrying said container which is adapted to lie generally parallel to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle when in said stowed position and generally parallel to the widthwise direction of the vehicle when in said operational position.
 12. A mechanism according to claim 9 wherein said container is of generally cuboid form and is adapted to be located on the vehicle with its minimum dimension generally parallel to the widthwise direction of the vehicle and its maximum dimension generally parallel to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle when in said stowed position. 